Telecommunication devices, mobile, landline or other, are increasingly used to provide communication between one or more persons. Communication using these telecommunication devices may be in the form of voice communication, text messages, instant messaging, sound (e.g., audible alerts), video, picture, or multi-media information. Voice communication may be with one person or with more than one person in the form of a three-way call or a conference call. Text, audible, picture, video, and multi-media information may also be sent to one person or more than one person using the multiple address function that is common in telecommunication devices.
For voice communication, the caller may dial a number from his telecommunication device or select a contact to be dialed from a contacts list and the call may be routed through the telecommunication network to the recipient's telecommunication device. Alternatively, the call may be routed through the Internet, or a combination of the Internet and the telecommunication network. The recipient's telecommunication device may inform the recipient through events such as an audible alert, vibration, visual indicator or some other means, or combination of visual, tactile and audible signals, of the incoming call. Once aware of the incoming call, the recipient may choose to receive the call and communicate with the caller, or may choose to ignore the call. Likewise, the caller may send a message in the form of a text message, picture, audio file or indicator, video recording, or other multimedia content to one or more recipients. These messages may be routed through the telecommunication network and/or the Internet to the recipient's telecommunication device. The recipient's telecommunication device may alert the recipient of the incoming message, and the recipient may view and respond to the incoming message or may choose to view them later at a convenient time.
All of these modes of communication require the caller to send a voice, audible, text, video, picture, or multimedia message, which are then delivered to the recipient. The recipient may respond to the incoming message when he is notified of their arrival or may do so later. In these cases, the communication between the caller and the recipient is not instantaneous; there is at least a lag equivalent to the time taken to deliver the voice or message from one telecommunication device to the other over the telecommunication network or the Internet. Moreover, none of these modes of communication provides the sensation of physical interaction referred to herein as “touch,” whether such physical interaction be perceived through tactile, aural, or visual sensation, when communicating with one or more persons. Neither do any of the present modes of communication using a telecommunication device permit the caller and the recipient to simultaneously share the same or different physical sensory stimulus so that they perceive that they are physically interacting with one another over a period of time.